Saint Bruno – Feast Day: 6 October
Contributor: Andrew Jones
Bruno was born around 1033 AD in Cologne, before national boundaries as we know them existed. He was ordained to the priesthood in that city and later was appointed as a canon. Some time around 1056 AD he took up the post of lecturer in Theology in the university attached to the Cathedral of Reims. This was over 200 years before today’s magnificent edifice was erected.
Gravely perturbed by the corrupt behaviour of some of the senior clergy of the diocese, Bruno vowed to commit himself to the humblest monastic life. Leaving Reims and its prosperity behind him, he took to what roads were then in existence. He had no idea of his ultimate destination but was convinced that God would guide him. From time to time he was joined by other men of a similar disposition, until they numbered seven in all.
Eventually the time came to end their nomadic life, and in 1084 Bruno and his group called upon Bishop Hugues of Grenoble in the French Alps. Bruno asked if the Bishop could guide them to some land where they might settle. Hugues was amazed at their request and revealed that only the previous night he had dreamed of seven stars that hovered over a mountainside and then settled next to an orb. He knew exactly where the site was and led the seven men up the slopes above the little hamlet of Fourvoirie to the beautiful valley he had seen in his dream. There Bruno and his followers built the first Abbey de la Grande Chartreuse, home of the Carthusian order. Bruno was inspired by the early monks of the Levant and constructed a simple oratory with basic cells around it.
The Carthusians renounced all worldly possessions and gradually their lives diverged, some to concentrate on worship and reflection and others to minister to the poor of the neighbouring villages. Over 900 years later the order serves both local and international communities and those seven stars and the orb remain central to their décor, a reminder of Saint Bruno and his original followers.